The entertainment business is no longer built one hit at a time

From films and television to OTT and microdramas, content is increasingly moving across formats and platforms. The challenge is no longer just finding the next hit, but making each hit work harder.

Sanjay Dwivedi06 Oct 2026
05:00IST
New Update

The entertainment business has always been built around uncertainty. You can have a strong story, the right talent and a well-executed production, and still not know how audiences will respond.

That unpredictability is inherent to the business. What has changed is the environment in which that decision is being made—and what a successful piece of content is expected to deliver beyond its first release.

The Indian media and entertainment industry is now an increasingly multi-screen, multi-format ecosystem. Digital media has become the largest segment of the industry, while television continues to have enormous reach.

Audiences move seamlessly between television, OTT, social platforms, short-form content and emerging formats depending on the occasion and the story. The opportunity, therefore, is no longer simply to produce more content but to build content that can find and retain audiences across this ecosystem.

For a long time, entertainment was largely built around the next project. A show would be commissioned, a film would be made, revenue would be realised and the business would move on to the next opportunity.

That model worked when demand for programming was expanding rapidly and content supply was relatively constrained. Today, audiences have unprecedented choice, and platforms are becoming more selective about their content investments. The industry is consequently moving towards greater discipline in commissioning, budgeting and capital allocation.

This makes the distinction between a title and an intellectual property increasingly important. A successful show or film should not necessarily be viewed as a one-time revenue event.

If a property connects with audiences, it can potentially generate value through sequels, spin-offs, remakes, licensing, syndication, adaptations and new formats. Not every title will become a franchise, but companies that consistently create and retain valuable IP have an opportunity to build a more durable business.

For a content company, that changes the way we think about growth. The objective cannot simply be to increase the number of films, shows or series produced every year. It has to be about selecting the right stories, matching the scale of investment to the opportunity and understanding how the property can evolve over time.

In films particularly, partnerships and pre-sales can help manage risk, but the larger opportunity is to participate in the long-term value of the IP rather than treating the theatrical release as the end of the journey.

It also changes the role of capital discipline. From a CFO’s perspective, returns, cash flows and risk remain critical. But content is not a conventional financial asset where a larger investment automatically produces a proportionately better outcome. At the same time, efficiency cannot mean applying a uniform cost-cutting approach to every production.

The right question is what the particular story needs to succeed—and whether every rupee invested is contributing either to the quality of the content or to its commercial potential.

This is particularly relevant today because the industry is going through a period of recalibration. Recent industry data points to a decline in the volume of OTT and television content produced in 2025, even as investments in films and sports increased.

That is less a sign that audiences are consuming less content and more a reflection of platforms and producers becoming more selective about where they deploy capital.

At the same time, new formats are opening up new opportunities. Microdramas are an example of how rapidly consumption habits can evolve. Mobile-first, short-form storytelling can reach audiences in moments and environments where traditional formats may not.

But the opportunity should not be reduced to producing more episodes at lower costs. A short format still needs a strong premise, compelling characters and the ability to hold attention.

Format may change, but the fundamental economics of storytelling remain connected to audience engagement.

Television is undergoing a similar evolution. It is tempting to describe the industry’s challenges simply as a consequence of OTT, but the reality is more nuanced. Television continues to reach hundreds of millions of Indians, even as linear viewing and advertising dynamics evolve.

The emergence of connected TV is also making the distinction between linear and digital viewing less clear. The future is increasingly an “and” market, rather than TV versus digital.

This convergence also means that we should stop thinking of content as belonging permanently to one medium. A story may originate on television, find a new audience on OTT, be adapted into a shorter format or generate value through licensing and other extensions.

The right platform will depend on the story, the audience and the economics. That makes it increasingly important for creative and commercial teams to work together from the beginning rather than treating them as separate decisions.

Technology will further accelerate this shift. AI, data and increasingly sophisticated production tools can improve efficiency, audience understanding, localisation and parts of the creative and post-production process. But technology will remain an enabler.

The central competitive advantage in entertainment will continue to be the ability to identify an idea that resonates with people and turn it into a compelling story. Technology can make the process more efficient; it cannot make audiences care.

Ultimately, the entertainment business will always involve taking creative risks. Some releases will perform far beyond expectations, while others will not find their audience. That uncertainty is not a weakness of the industry—it is part of what makes it creative.

What can change is what happens after a successful release.

If every hit takes the business back to the starting line, growth remains dependent on finding the next hit. But if a successful title creates a valuable IP, a loyal audience and multiple avenues for future monetisation, the economics begin to look very different.

That, to me, is the larger shift taking place in entertainment. The next hit will always matter. But the real opportunity is to build properties, capabilities and audiences that continue to create value long after the first release.

(Sanjay Dwivedi is the Group CEO & CFO of Balaji Telefilms. A seasoned financial leader, he has nearly 30 years of experience spanning the media & entertainment and FMCG sectors.)

TelevisionMediaDigital MediaEntertainmentIntellectual PropertiesmonetisationBusiness Strategy
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